


leap

by maharlika



Series: loki on ice [6]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Ficlet, Friendship, M/M, Secret Relationship, figure skater loki, hockey player thor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28397472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maharlika/pseuds/maharlika
Summary: 16 years old in Slovenia, at his first Junior Worlds competition, in a costume he’d made himself because Odin had refused to support him at all. Already he’d been out, and already they hated him. In the locker room, he’d been given the dirtiest stares, slurs muttered under cold breaths.But Bucky had taken one look at Loki and decided that what this skinny, nervous, patchwork boy needed was a friend who could teach him how to talk trash in Russian and how to get that edge on his flip just right.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Loki, Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Series: loki on ice [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698331
Comments: 16
Kudos: 59





	leap

**Author's Note:**

> for the prompts leap + reassurance from ludovica on twitter

“I need to tell you something.” 

Even as the words left his mouth, Loki regretted saying them. 

He bent his head over the steaming mug of tea in his hands, trying to center himself, feeling as if he’d just gone for a quad loop and bombed it, hard. His chest was getting tighter and tighter. God, why had he decided this was a good idea?

“Lo? You know you can tell me anything, right?” 

Bucky’s voice came through with crystal clear clarity despite the static of his panicked thoughts. 

“Can I?” Loki choked out. He stared at his nails. He’d given them a fresh black coat last night, and it had almost felt like putting on armor. The nails had been a sticking point for so many things with the Figure Skating Fed. It was such a tiny thing, but every misstep Loki had taken could be, and often was, held against him. Bucky always had his back though—had painted his own nails in solidarity dozens of times. 

Now, years later, Loki often wondered if he’d grow out of these things with age, but the opposite has happened: he’s grown into them instead, self-love without the spite.

Loki took a deep breath. Steam rose into his lungs.

“Thor and I—Thor and I are—“

He couldn’t. He couldn’t do it, God, he couldn’t, he couldn’t bear to ruin one of the best things about his life, couldn’t live with himself if Bucky ever looked at him with disgust, the way the other skaters used to do. 16 years old in Slovenia, at his first Junior Worlds competition, in a costume he’d made himself because Odin had refused to support him at all. Already he’d been out, and already they hated him. In the locker room, he’d been given the dirtiest stares, slurs muttered under cold breaths. 

But Bucky had taken one look at Loki and decided that what this skinny, nervous, patchwork boy needed was a friend who could teach him how to talk trash in Russian and how to get that edge on his flip just right. 

The edge had never really worked out, but now Loki was almost a two decades gone from his last skating competition and he could still speak Russian like a native. 

“Loki,” Bucky said calmly. “It’s okay. I know.”

That was even worse. God, that was _worse_.

Loki’s breathing ceased completely, and he shook his head in horror. 

If Bucky knew—

“Breathe, Loki, hey, come on. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

“Who—“ Loki wheezed. “How—“

“I’ve known you for years, asshole, that’s how. And it’s just me. Maybe Nat. No one else, I don’t think. It’s fine, it’s all fine, Lo. I promise.”

Loki squeezed his eyes shut and tried to nod, tried to get any air into him at all. 

He heard the scrape of Bucky’s chair and suddenly he was being drawn into a hug, tight, _tighter_. Bucky always gave the best hugs. One of their rituals as soon as they got off the ice, as much as they were able, was to hold each other tight: to keep each other steady when the stress of their sport had threatened to shatter them. 

“Okay,” Loki whispered, tears slowly sliding down his face. “Okay.”

“He better be treating you right,” Bucky whispered.

Loki laughed outright, wiggling an arm out of his best friend’s embrace so he could scrub the tears from his eyes. “He’s the best—the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Then I’m happy for you,” Bucky said, as if it was really that simple. 

Maybe it was, Loki thought, as Bucky took his chair across from him again, and Loki texted Thor and told him things had gone well and he could leave the bedroom. 

Loki was lost and limp with relief, but still had the energy to tear up when Thor came into the kitchen and kissed him on the mouth in front of his oldest friend. 

“Hey, baby,” Thor said, in almost a whisper, and Loki flushed all over. It wasn’t as if Thor had never called him that before in front of his friends—but now, Bucky knew.

“Okay, I have to admit that’s adorable,” Bucky said. “But I’m pretty sure I was promised dinner and a movie, Odinson, so get cracking.”

“I’ll take care of dinner,” Thor said, rubbing his hands up and down Loki’s arms. He kissed Loki’s cheek, lingered for a moment too long, and Bucky didn’t say a word. As if all of this was completely normal. “You go do what you guys…do.”

“Gossip about awful coaches and judges,” Loki said, if a bit shakily. “And someone still owes me updates from the Russian Nationals—"

“Oh my god, okay, so—” Bucky started, as Loki kissed Thor back and sent him off to start dinner. 

Sometimes, Loki thought, cupping his still-warm mug in his hands again, things really _were_ that simple.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> kudos and comments always appreciated ❤️let me know what you guys thought of this one ;)


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